Replacement Front Door - Planning Permission

Skye_0505

I live in a flat and want to replace my front door which has direct entry into my flat, none of the other flats in the building use it.
I’ve been told I need planning permission and it appears from reading the council website that the correct type is a full planning permission application. However, it is a very long and detailed application which seems overkill for a replacement front door which will be in the same style and colour as the current one. I don’t live in a conservation area or have any planning restrictions on the property.

I also looked at whether I could apply for a lawful permitted development certificate which asks fewer questions and seems more suited to the request for a replacement door. However, this says it is only appropriate if you are ‘making the door good’. It’s unclear whether a like for like replacement is the same as making good.

Both applications cost a lot of money so I don’t want to make the application for a lawful permitted development certificate and then find out it was the incorrect application and have to pay for the full application. At the same time, the full application is so detailed that it surely can’t be what you need to do to replace your front door.

Has anyone had any experience with applying for planning permission in a flat?
Does it vary from council to council? (Maybe there’s no general advice)

Can you hope that if you apply for a lawful permitted development certificate that someone at the council will be sensible about it or is it safer to apply for full planning permission?

Section62

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6683332/replacement-front-door-planning-permission

Permitted development generally doesn't apply to flats.

Who told you that you'd need planning consent? Did they explain why?

FreeBear

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82136728#Comment_82136728

Could well be a requirement that the door must be fire rated. If it does need to be fire rated, it won't be a job for your average double glazing firm.

Boohoo

Are you on about a door that is on the exterior of the building that is access to your flat or a door that's behind a communal entrance door?

I can't see planning permission needed unless fire door if access is after a main building door

Skye_0505

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82136728#Comment_82136728

The company who are providing the door - they won’t manufacture the door until we give the evidence that planning permission has been obtained. The reason they gave was ‘it’s a flat’.

Skye_0505

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82136756#Comment_82136756

We had a fire door survey at the building last year and our flat as it’s a self contained unit and not part of the escape route is not within the fire door regulations for the building.

HampshireH

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82136804#Comment_82136804

Each council advice varies. But it's unusual for a like for like door to need planning permission outside of a conservation area or listed building.

Call your council planning department and ask them if the website isn't clear.

Its wrong of the fitter to have a blanket policy and it's your responsibility not theirs to obtain it. You're the one who they would enforce against should they choose to

But as others have said check you don't need a fire door. If it's facing into a communal area it's unlikely to be a standard composite door

Skye_0505

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82136802#Comment_82136802

It’s an external door but only provides access to my flat. It’s not behind a communal entrance door. The way the old terrace houses have been split into flats makes my flat a completely self contained unit that isn’t accessed via the communal hallway of the building.

It is definitely not a fire door

grumpy_codger

The company who are providing the door - they won’t manufacture the door until we give the evidence that planning permission has been obtained. The reason they gave was ‘it’s a flat’.

Their loss. Find another company - there are plenty of national online ones that don't care about local councils, e.g. https://www.we-do-doors.co.uk.

jimi_man

It is actually quite often the case that flats do require planning permission for new front doors, mainly because leasehold flats don't have permitted development rights. You'd need to check the lease agreement and you may need to get freeholder consent and they may have rules about approved contractors, types of doors, fire safety, thermal efficiency etc.

I only know this as it came up with a friend's flat.

Section62

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82137129#Comment_82137129

It is actually quite often the case that flats do require planning permission for new front doors, mainly because leasehold flats don't have permitted development rights.

Whether it is leasehold or not doesn't make a difference in terms of permitted development. The GPDO excludes 'flat's (including the building containing them) from the definition of 'dwellinghouse', and defines a 'flat' as a separate and self-contained dwelling within a building where there is horizontal division. This also means a maisonette is treated as a flat for PD purposes.